


You Belong to Me

by Vorousmorris



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Not Canon Compliant, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, SuperCorp, just try it, now ft domestic supercorp, the bioshock flavored supercorp AU that literally no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22152916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorousmorris/pseuds/Vorousmorris
Summary: "A deal was struck, blood for blood. A deal broken, blood for bondage. Kara woke up feeling outrage, what had Cadmus done to her. She felt a deep sense of emptiness in her soul. She longed for fulfillment but from what she did not know."In which Kara is bound to Lena as a Big daddy due to the arrogance of Lillian Luthor.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 40
Kudos: 243





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Edited by me. Please feel free to skip over the Bioshock info if it doesn't interest you. Just know the bond between a big daddy and a little sister is very strong and very deadly.

'I can see all the doors. Sometimes I see you with me, happy. Other doors open to a desolate world where we are forever separated, never to interact or acknowledge each other. The door I must open is one of those dark worlds, but I promise baby girl, it is for the best.' Elizabeth, the Colombian songbird and interdimensional traveler thought stoically as she placed her baby girl into a carrier.

A simple brown and white silk blanket to cover her descendant, the child she will never grow to know. In nearly all other universes her child is never born, but this, this universe, this door is special. It allowed her to grow a baby girl, give birth and with just enough time left, cast off her child into a universe where she will be safe. Of all the doors, this one is the most consistent for her child. A kind Irish woman will find the baby, raise it as her own with a loving partner and the girl will grow up happy without any knowledge of Rapture or Columbia.

As the baby fussed in her cradle, Elizabeth smiled. She would never know what it would be like to be a mother. To raise the child from start to finish, to hear the laughter and the sadness echo off the walls of her home. "Little Lena, this is my gift to you." Elizabeth kissed her daughter goodbye, opened the tear and placed the cradle inside. She could not bear to see the environment she was subjecting her daughter to. The tear closed and the tears flowed freely down Elizabeth's face. The cries of her daughter would not permeate the dimensional barriers. It would be hours until her new mom found her on the doorstep, cold, lonely, and completely ignorant of her conception.

_Four years later_

Lena barely understood what was happening. A sinister-looking woman was now her mom. She was certain her mom was the kind, pale, dark-haired woman who tucked her into bed every night, spoke so softly and lovingly to her. This new woman, tall, blonde, cold, was not her mother. Her new brother, however, was a darling. She loved him and wanted nothing else but to spend time with him and impress him whenever she could. This life was odd but Lena could somehow sense it was the best possible world for her to live in.

However…every now and then, at the right angle with the right light when looking at her new mother, Lillian, she would see something bizarre. A reflection of light at Lillian's right hand, an obscure facial deformation on her left side. Occasionally Lena would catch her adoptive mother with a mask on…truly bizarre. Nightmarish in nature, probably a side effect of growing up human, the unexplainable nightmares all children have….something to forget.

_Twenty years later_

The nightmares dissipated from Lena's mind. The cruelty, the coldness, the apathy that Lillian showed her remained. What a shitty life, to have a loving mother be ripped from her at such a young age only to fall into the hands of a cold, cold woman. Lena remained steadfast in her goal to outgrow her trauma. Her abusive history does not define her. She is not a victim, she is Lena Luthor, the most illegitimate of Luthor's, the false princess to an empire that is now under her command. Giving in to the evil tendencies is a choice, so is spreading love and kindness. She chose the light, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

This path she carves for herself leads to a rich world full of inspiring characters, like her friend Kara. She does not feel like a Luthor when near Kara, she feels like Lena, and just Lena. This is how Lena knows who she really is, because of truly good people in the world like Kara.

This is where our story begins. With a girl who is not at all who she thinks she is, with a mother who is not at all who she pretends to be, and with a friend who is not at all who she says she is.

_In the not too distant future_

"And who are you to my daughter?" Lillian asked, starring down the kryptonian locked in a cage.

"I'm a friend." Insisted Supergirl, the honest belief held in her heart that Lena coveted their friendship as much as she did.

If only she knew what was about to transpire.

A deal was struck, blood for blood. A deal broken, blood for bondage. Kara woke up feeling outrage, what had Cadmus done to her. She felt a deep sense of emptiness in her soul. She longed for fulfillment but from what she did not know. "What did you do to me?" She groggily spoke aloud to no one in particular.

"Your cells are most interesting, Supergirl. Our sun gives you energy that you can convert into tremendous power. I have clients who are very, very interesting in cultivating that power." Lillian stood calmly next to the bound woman, looking over her chart as she continued, " I do believe I found a way to extract the power from your cells and sell it to the highest bidder. Oh but don't fret, you will be kept alive, after all, I need your cells alive, not necrotic." Lillian laughed to herself at the end. This is what her entire life culminated in this universe, what Atlas sent her to accomplish. Find the girl, extract the ADAM, give it to Atlas to sell to Rapture, profit.

With Supergirl and the sea slug combined, the amount of ADAM would be limitless. With her daughter, the most perfect little sister subject, gathering the ADAM would be simple. Atlas had seen other doors as well, he knew that it wasn't enough to implant the sea slug into Supergirl, he needed to form a bond between the alien and a little sister, to ensure consistent extraction. After all, a big daddy never squabbled about being attacked by a little sister, it was only when the little sister was in danger did he attack. Thus the plan to convert Supergirl into an ADAM big daddy factory begun.

Lillian looked over Suchong's notes. They had him pulled from one dimension into this one, the one where Elizabeth thought her daughter was safe. How fitting her daughter would now be unwittingly collecting ADAM like any good little sister. Suchong had implanted the sea slug into Supergirl's abdominal cavity and implanted the activation phrase into her brain. From now on Supergirl would kindly do whatever Lillian asked, like willingly go to her daughter to get the ADAM extracted from her belly. If this was successful they could implant other aliens, make more little sisters, sell ADAM in this world, make plasmids in this dimension…it would make them so much money.

"Supergirl," Lillian spoke neatly, "Would you kindly stand up?"

Nothing.

Well shit.

"Would you kindly stand up?" Lillian spoke again, looking nervously at the constraints holding Supergirl down. They would be easily broken by the alien, this should present no issue to the superhero.

"Oh fuck off." Supergirl spit into Lillian's general direction. Her faculties slowly coming back into consciousness. Lillian stood adjacent to the woman wide eyed. Something had gone wrong with the surgery, but what were the consequences…

A flash, a bang, smoke and mirrors, and a missing Supergirl. Cadmus was fucked. Lillian's only hope of holding up her end of the deal was that Lena would still be able to extract ADAM from Supergirl…and that Lena was still under Lillian's control.

_A while later_

Lena was most definitely not under her control. She neutralized the virus and ratted Lillian out. Lillian was definitely now on Atlas's shit list.

_Somewhere else in the timeline._

"Well Supergirl, do you trust me now?" Lena flattened her tone, trying to speak as impartially as possible. The woman of steel rattled her from head to toe but that was a weakness subject to compartmentalization.

"Of course…Miss Luthor, Lena, I see now you are not your mother's daughter." Supergirl also spoke evenly, as evenly as possible with the yearning in her cells flaring. Ever since her escape from Cadmus, whatever they had done to her was yet to be realized except for the intense pull she felt for the heir of the Luthor line.

"Oh I am. I'm adopted. My birth mother was a kind, good hearted woman. A force for good, like I am trying to be." Lena laughed, her childhood memories springing into her head. Thinking about her real mother always calmed her down. "Now would you kindly turn around…" Lena paused as she watched Supergirl immediately respond to her instruction. To Supergirl's credit, she looked as confused as Lena as she turned around so quickly."…and fly out of sight." Lena finished slowly and watched as Supergirl wordlessly flew off and into the horizon.

"Would…you kindly come back into my office?" Lena whispered, afraid of the result of her utterance but unable to stop herself as she gasped when the imposing figure reappeared in front of her. A moment passed as Supergirl tried to sputter out an excuse but Lena interrupted, "What did my mother do to you?" the word mother had an inflection known to Supergirl, disgust was the intent.

Another moment of silence as the two women stood apart, the walls of Lena's office felt too close yet too far. The sterile white aesthetic suffocating any hope of familial comfort. This was a room for business and only business. This conversation was business, but not as usual. Supergirl broke as she confessed, "I really don't know." 


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: This is all the necessary backstory to set the stage for what is to come. I hope it isn't too dry. I did take some creative liberties with the Bioshock information but I tried to stay as true to it as possible. Also, for no reason, the past is in the present tense and the future is in the past tense. If you hate this let me know and I will change it, but it just gives it the right vibe to me.

_The present_

"Would you kindly sit down, Supergirl." Lena gestured to the couch in her office. Kara responded immediately by angrily throwing herself lengthwise on the couch, leaving no room for Lena. Kara folded her hands over her stomach and laid flat.

"Alright you play the shrink and I'll play the crazy patient who cannot control herself anymore." Kara tried to joke knowing the situation is anything but humorous. Lena smiled in response, a forced smile carved from years of placating others.

Lena chooses to sit on the coffee table, putting her in an uncomfortable position, a small act of solidarity toward the submissive superhero in front of her. "There are things you should know about me." Lena started before pausing to make meaningful eye contact with Supergirl. "I told you I'm adopted, I barely remember my birth mother. The Luthor's took possession of me when I was four years old. From four until about twenty I was not fully in control of myself, much like you find yourself now." Lena began her tale, pausing at times to separate her emotions from her trauma. She decided years ago her past abuse is not a defining characteristic of her personhood.

_Twenty years ago_

Lena remembers wind and rain. She remembers a constant source of greenery for her visual enjoyment. She remembers the hollow voices of adults speaking high above her, but she cannot place their words. She does not often dwell in the past, being a six year old with many things to do.

"Would you kindly greet our guests." Lillian's voice floats over from the entryway. Lena stands obediently and cranes her neck back to the fullest to look up at the fully grown humans in front of her.

"Hi." A timid voice escapes Lena's mouth. Then a smile, not quite right in the corners but good enough, and a dramatic bow. The adults voice back some sort of response but Lena cannot understand it. She looks to Lillian, her new mother, for instruction.

Lillian rolls her eyes, "Would you kindly sit quietly in the study." Lena obeys.

_Nineteen years ago_

Lena remembers a time before she was sick. Before she met the adults whose voices she couldn't understand. Before they made her drink something that put her to sleep only for her to wake up with a deep wound on her stomach and a deeper pain underneath.

"Would you kindly cough into this bag." Lillian states emotionless, as her daughter coughs and spits up a slimey green substance. This has been happening for months now and although Lena seems fine otherwise, the coughing is persistent. The expelled snot is never-ending, and every time Lena filled a liter bag of it and hands it to Lillian to dispose of, something flickers in Lillian's eyes, something almost like joy.

The coughing fit is over and Lena once again sits alone. People are constantly in and out of the house yet Lena has never felt more alone. Lex plays with her a lot but ever since the coughing started he has left her alone to get better less he ruin his perfect health.

_Eighteen years ago_

It is constant now, the relentless pace of her cough. Specialists come and go, all giving her high marks for health. Allergies they say, avoid pollen, avoid trees, the grass, and wind, maybe even the sun itself. Lena finds herself alone most often, surrounded only by inanimate objects to provoke her growing body and mind.

Lex no longer avoids her. He has learned that her illness is not contagious. Still, the pitiful sight is hard to bear for long. As much as Lena struggles to contain her coughs they leak through her chest and into the atmosphere around her.

Most days a tutor comes by to teach her the basics. He is gentle but distant, not willing to form any bonds with the sick child in front of him. He does extend Lena one gift, the gift of reading. He reads to Lena after her lessons, she finishes them quickly and with precision most days so there are hours left for her to learn. He reads to her, never wavering for her coughs and never settling for less than the most interesting stories regardless of her age.

_Sixteen years ago_

Lena finds herself in a hospital and that is most unusual for her. In the years prior all of the doctors came to visit the Luthor's directly. Lena assumed this was because of how fragile she was. Now though, now she finds herself in a blindly bright room with a myriad of confused, angry, and maybe even caring faces above her.

Lena can hear Lex in the background explaining to a doctor about her illness. How she has had a persistent cough for years, green goo always comes out, no other symptoms.

She is off for a chest x-ray and back in no time. Her cough has lessened with the medicine given to her but she feels the slim build up in her lungs. Before she is intubated she catches the words, "mass below diaphragm…"

Lena wakes up later to find a livid Lillian standing over her and a smug Lex in the corner of the room.

"Well, looks like your brother's hunch about your condition was correct…"Lillian pauses, looks around to remind herself she is in a public place, "They were able to remove the thing causing your illness, isn't that fantastic? I wonder why I paid all of those specialists who never found anything wrong…"Lillian finishes emotionless. Lillian kisses Lena's forehead and walks out of the hospital room without another word.

Lena catches a glimpse of the doctor handing a box to Lillian and wonders if Lillian asked for the mass to be jarred like in movies, if that was a real thing because that would be super gross but also super neat. Maybe Lena could study her own parasitic infection and help other little kids one day. That's exactly what she would do, Lena decides right then, she would become a scientist or doctor and help others who have weird infections.

_Twelve years ago_

"Would you kindly…"Lillian rattles off a list of commands to Lena. The phrase no longer held power over Lena in the way it did before she was cured, but Lena learned years ago that defying Lillian was not a task to be taken lightly, so she complied regardless of the lack of pull.

This would be Lena's last summer at the Luthor house before being shipped off to boarding school. Lillian had encouraged Lena to finish high school early but with Lena going to volunteer at the hospital and retirement homes as much as she has been there was no time to do extra work. Begrudgingly the Luthor's paid for Lena to go to boarding school and finish off her education 'properly' which Lena interpreted as 'get out of our face you little insolent brat.'

Ever since Lena returned home from the hospital four years ago her life had changed completely. She was able to go outside and interact now, but Lillian hated her and Lex was more distant but still loving. Lionel was simply absent for a lack of a better word. It was almost as if he never existed at all.

The worst part of her recovery was the loss of access to the library. Lillian cut her off from the room when she returned, stating she needed to focus on school now and the books in the library were either beneath her or above her. This did not stop a determined young Lena one night a couple of years prior. Lena had planned the perfect evening which included having the house to herself and plenty of bobby pins to try to break into the library.

_Two years prior_

Lena had the entire house to herself. She kneels in front of the library door with her supplies shoved into a coat pocket in case she needed to make a quick escape.

Surprisingly the door opened on her third attempt. Of course, inner house door locks are always the easiest but Lena expected more of a fight for a room she so loved. Glancing around before quietly opening the door, Lena rose from her knees to enter the room.

The books remained frozen in time on the shelves. The deep mahogany red of the wood shelves enveloped her with a warm feeling, Lena smiled and started to scope out some of the more interesting titles when something in the corner catches her eye.

The moonlight illuminates the room from the back wall through three windows giving the library a creepy sensation but to add to that was a faintly glowing substance where a peace lily used to reside. It almost looked like a bug or giant snail. Lena lifts her foot to step closer when out of the corner of her eye she notices the plate for an invisible alarm. One more step and she would trigger it. One deep sigh later Lena left the library empty-handed and head full of confusion.

_Two years ago_

Sometimes Lena wonders if her past was all just one giant nightmare. The adoption, the illness, the weird snail in the library, the abuse in general. At boarding school Lena finally found friends, in college she finally found real friends and a calling, and now finally in the adult world, Lena finally finds a purpose.

The only other person who knows Lena's past is her therapist. Years of breaking down Lillian's most iconic moments all boiled down to Lena deciding to maintain minimal contact with Lillian. Even though Lena and Lex are working together, Lena is absent at family dinner, and never present for the holidays.

One particular event solidifies this approach for Lena. Just last week Lillian called, not sounding entirely sober and left the worst voicemail Lena could possibly imagine, it was clearly a mistake and Lillian did not mean to dial her or leave her a message but nevertheless her voice fills the room around Lena as the voicemail plays back on speaker, "The brat isn't answering, no she never does anymore even after we took her in and kept her alive. All that ADAM gone to waste, no she did survive, Lutece saw to that. Such a waste, should have told him to keep her in a coma and let the slug do it's job…" The rest of the message is muffled after that and it ends fifteen seconds later.

Lena really is baffled. Adam, Lutece, slug. Keywords that mean something and nothing at all. Lena wonders if this is just another nightmare but every day the voicemail is still there on her phone.

_The present_

Kara patiently listened to Lena's retelling, refusing to interrupt, getting them food and drinks when Lena needed a break and ultimately becoming an alien snot rag for Lena as the evening culminated to her inevitable break down.

"God I am so sorry Supergirl." Lena exclaimed as she pushed herself off of the superhero and realized how much fluid she just deposited onto the supersuit.

"Hey it's totally ok, the DEO drycleans this suit for free!" Kara waved off Lena and tried to redirect the conversation, "Thank you for telling me all of this, I am really honored you trust me enough to explain. Except I am kind of confused about how you can now control me with that phrase and why it works…" Kara trailed off and looked at Lena hopefully for further explanation.

"It didn't make sense to me either at first. I think I understand what Lillian did now though." Lena started her explanation and hoped she was right, "That, thing, I saw in the library that night, that was the parasite that was taken out of me. Before it was taken out of me I had to obey Lillian with the would you kindly phrase. Once it was taken out it just didn't work anymore. And whatever all that goop I coughed up was, was valuable to Lillian. 'All that ADAM' she said in her voicemail. It's not a person's name, ADAM, it's a thing, a substance! She is trying to get you to cough up all of that garbage and do whatever nefarious thing with it. "

"So am I going to start coughing up a bunch of goop, that's the worst new superpower ever!" Kara threw her hands over her mouth and fake gagged. So far nothing was forming in her lungs but only time would tell.

Lena paused and pulled a pensive face. "I am really not sure. I have no idea what the slug even does or what kind it is. She mentioned a 'Lutece' got it out of me but I cannot find anyone with that name who would have that ability on this Earth." Lena continued, "Until the other night when I double crossed Lillian, she never suspected the phrase had stopped working on me, she even used it while I was manipulating the virus. She probably thought she would put the parasite in you and I would collect the ADAM from you and give it to her…but to do what I just don't understand."

Lena stood and started pacing as she forgot about Supergirl for a few moments, deep in thought about Lillian's intentions and the ultimate consequences of her actions.

"So…"Supergirl trailed off, waiting for Lena to notice her again, once Lena stopped her pacing and turned to her she continued, "Lillian said something about harvesting my cells and selling them to the highest bidder, so you are correct on that front. Maybe this weird slug thing will do something different to me and I won't be vomiting up slime during my next fight?" Kara offered up the information in a helpful tone. "Umm, but there's one more thing…"

"Yes supergirl?" Lena asked when the blond never recalled her query.

"When this thing was….was inside of you. Did it make you feel, like, pulled toward Lillian? Like did you feel like you could never be apart from her or it would physically hurt you?" Kara asked quietly fiddled with her fingers.

"No. I was only bound to the house before of my illness, and there were times I was physically very far from Lillian when she went on trips and whatnot." Lena answered easily, the full impact of Supergirl's question took a moment for her to understand. "Oh."

The pair were silent for a moment.

"Maybe we should get you to your super not so secret government organization that is conveniently two miles from here and get you checked out." Lena finally fully responded.

Kara jumped up and reached her hand out to Lena, "Do you trust me?"

Lena looked up to Supergirl, confused, "What?"

"Do you trust me?" Kara asked again.

"Are you really quoting Aladdin?" Lena rolled her eyes and grabbed Supergirl's hand. "I just have one more question before we go Supergirl." Lena pulled her hand back slightly to get Kara to stop leading them toward the balcony.

"Hmmm?"

"What's your real name?" Lena asked, blunt and direct.

"I, uh…Supergirl duh!" Kara responded nervously and dropped Lena's hand.

"Would you kind-…Don't make me finish it, Supergirl." Lena pleaded with her eyes. "I need to know, when I have this sort of…pull, over you. I'm going to find out quickly so either you can do it now and it can be your choice, or it can be very painful for you."

Kara paused and looks down, knowing she cannot hide this from Lena. If she tried and Lena let her, what consequences would there be, for Kara Danvers to constantly be at Lena's side, hovering around L-Corp, and in physical pain if Lena ever took a business trip.

Making a decision Kara reached her hand out once more to Lena, this time in more of a handshake position, "Hi, my name is Kara Zor-el and I hail from the planet Krypton."

Lena shook Kara's hand and rolled her eyes, "Kara Zor-el, you have an Earthling name?"

Kara stomped her foot, "You know…you know who I am now Lena!"

"You're an adult Ms. Danvers, act like one." 

"I will literally never do that so help me Rao."

Lena sighed heavily. Of course, once Kara said her real first name it clicked like lightening in Lena's mind. Kara Danvers is Supergirl. How did she not notice it immediately when she met both of them one on one.

"Thank you for telling me Kara. I didn’t want to know in order to hurt you," Lena paused, stepping closer to Kara and grabbing her hands, "Whatever my mother did to you is obviously very serious and impacts us both, we need to be able to trust each other completely. I am on your side on this, okay?" Lena followed Kara's eyes as the superhero broke and made eye contact.

Kara nodded and moved to hold Lena by the arms, "Up, up, and away?"

"Up, up, and away." Lena replied as she griped Kara tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that? Want to read more? Let me know please!


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More exposition! Stuff will happen...eventually. I'm just a slow writer and don't want you to think I've given up on this just yet.

Kara felt the rage inside of her as soon as they landed at the DEO. A dozen or so trained agents were pointing guns at herself and Lena. Of course they were, she just brought a Luthor into a secret government organization designed to handle alien encounters. "Alex! J'onn Tell the agents to stand down!" Kara quaked as her body shook, fighting the urge to rip the weapons and throats from every agent's body.

"At ease everyone," J'onn commanded smoothly, turning to face Supergirl and Lena. He already knew Lena's intentions were pure the moment they landed. He moved hastily toward them, Alex on his heel. The agents lowered their weapons and Kara released her jaw from its clenched state, relaxing her shoulders with a silent thank you upon her eyes.

"We have…a situation. It isn't good, but it maybe isn't bad either?" Kara explained unhelpfully, shrugging with her arms open.

Alex and J'onn looked from Kara to Lena and back to Kara before looking at each other. With the language of silence agreed upon they both wordlessly sighed heavily and led the women to a private meeting room.

_Several hours later_

Lena was exhausted from the regurgitation of her life story to two near strangers.

Kara was exhausted by Lena's exertion. At first, they attempted to only explain that CADMUS implanted something inside of Kara that had some weird effects on her, but without the full story the implications were lost on the DEO senior leadership sitting across from them.

"So…"Alex trailed off, utterly shocked at the disastrous events that have taken place, "Can we try to remove this….parasite? It came out of…Lena…somehow, right? So let's stick Supergirl under some red sun lamps and cut the thing out and throw it back in Lillian's face. Easy peasy." Alex nodded her head at her plan resolutely. J'onn shrugged in agreement, clearly not understanding the full picture.

Kara and Lena looked at each other. "That may only exacerbate the situation, I'm afraid this parasite was not removed…naturally." Lena explained slowly, "But if Supergirl is willing to undergo exploratory surgery by all means." Lena finished with the flair of her wrists and folding of her arms.

Alex stood abruptly, "Supergirl, a word outside please," her eyes never leaving Lena's stoic stance. Kara followed her out of the room wordlessly, tension obvious in every step. Alex walked down the hall of the DEO taking Kara to a more secure location but after 100 feet Kara stopped following her.

"Here is good Alex, whatever you have to say no one will rat you out." Kara stood her ground trying to mask the discomfort she was beginning to feel.

"No, I want to speak to you in the secure room on the other side of the facility." Alex motioned for Kara to continue to follow her.

Kara attempted to follow for a few additional steps, each foot awakening a new ache she never knew she could feel. Kara stopped and focused on the sounds around her and finally landed on Lena and J'onn making awkward conversation with the Danvers sisters out of the room. Hearing Lena, her breathing, her heartbeat, made the distance more bearable but did not squash the dull pain growing inside of her. "Ok, we can keep going," Kara responded after a long moment of listening to the sounds of life that Lena made.

Alex shook her head incredulously and continued through the halls of the DEO to the secure communication room. If Supergirl had a new weakness, no one could know about it. "So what exactly is this slug doing and how does it affect you and Lena?" Alex demanded knowledge once the obscuring technology was activated.

"I'm not sure what the slug is honestly Alex, " Kara threw her hands up in defense, her voice weak from the distance, "Nothing has come out of me yet, no weird slime or anything so we aren't sure if that will even happen or what Lillian's plans actually were…" Kara trailed off to catch her breath. She couldn't hear Lena's heartbeat in the secure room and the dull ache was beginning to sting like a newly formed cut all over her torso.

"Ok, and what is happening to you right now?" Alex asked more softly, recognizing her sister in pain, "you're a literal invulnerable alien, did this slug zap your powers, how are you so weak right now?" Alex moved to help Kara sit on a chair, one of two located in the room, the concern in her voice coming from a familial place rather than a corporate allegiance.

"I…I need to be near Lena…or I hurt." Kara managed to breathe out, "It's not that I'm weak but there is this pain that is starting to take over my entire body…" Kara stopped and patted her stomach in particular, "…it starts here and it hurts Alex. Like a dull hurt but now it's sharp and I can't…focus." Kara finished her sentence in short breaths, holding up her upper body with her arms on her thighs like her spine had no strength left.

"Oh well that's great," Alex responded sarcastically before she could stop herself. "Sorry, sorry, don't kill me!" Alex held her hands up in peace as soon as she saw the look in Kara's eyes. This was going to get very complicated very quickly. "We just, barely know her and she's a Luthor an-"

"She's nothing like her family!" Kara came to Lena's defense as naturally as a moth to a flame.

"Ok, ok." Alex admitted defeat and turned off the devices blocking any signals that could spy on them. Instantly Kara listened for Lena and the ache in her stomach was satiated for the time being.

_A few hours later_

"So, your place or mine?" Kara raised her eyebrows at Lena jokingly as they walked toward the exit of the DEO and in front of Alex, who immediately pretended to gag.

"Maybe Supergirl should stay at the DEO under careful watch by trained and armed guards, hmm Supergirl, what do you think about that?" Alex interjected quickly trying to pull Kara by the arm toward one of the hallways back into the DEO.

"Or," Lena began innocently, "Kara can stay at my penthouse, also under the watch of trained and armed private security."

Alex dropped her head back with another heavy sigh, let go of Kara, and marched back into the DEO to get the NDA forms for Lena.

Kara beamed her thousand-watt smile at Lena, "You got this annoying Alex thing down pat already, I like it." Kara had been thinking about how to tell Alex that Lena knew, but now she could focus on more important things, like food, and removing this weird supernatural parasite inside of her.

Alex came back after a few moments with a clipboard and thrust it at Lena, "Sign here, here, initial here, here, and here. Also sign and date here, print name here, and sign here. Done! Want to just make a press release Kara, tell the entire world?" Alex glared at her sister while glancing at the paperwork, making sure it was filled out properly.

"Uhh, nope," Kara responded easily brushing off Alex's anger. She fiddled with the hem of her sleeves, not sure how to proceed from here. Looking toward Lena for help, Kara tried to communicate with her eyes, message received.

Lena handed Alex the pen she had used to sign the forms and raised her hand to Kara, "Kara, would you kindly take us back to yours?" Kara complied faster than Alex could recap the pen.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just update twice in a week? Yes. Will I ever do it again? No. Why did I do this? Ya'll need some domestic supercorp for what is about to happen in canon.

_The present_

It was the early hours of the morning when Kara landed in her living room with Lena held tight to her body. The day had been emotionally and physically draining, and still, there was work to be done in the morning.

"We probably still have a lot to talk about but all I want to do is eat, shower, then go to bed immediately and exactly in that order." Kara explained her desires to Lena as she set the CEO on her couch and moved to the fridge. Food was taken out and heat vision zapped in mere seconds with Kara returning to the couch before Lena could fully get her wits about her.

"I, uh yeah that sounds good. I can sleep here near you, you don't need me…right next to you, do you? I can shower without you?" Lena asked Kara who shook her head with her mouthful.

"Iff phnk iph beh ohay." Kara muddled through her food, shallowed the portion in her mouth near whole, then spoke again, "I think it'll be okay with some distance. It's so weird to explain but just, please stay here with me for now? We can figure out the rest tomorrow." Kara pleaded with Lena, exhaustion in her eyes moving Lena to move from her position and wrap herself around Kara.

"I'm not going anywhere, except to the bathroom, then bed, okay?" Lena rubbed her hands along Kara's arms as she rose from her awkward position on the couch. Kara just nodded and continued to shovel food into her face.

Lena was in the bathroom, naked and letting the water warm when she heard Kara yell, "Leave some hot water for me!"

_An hour later_

Both women were clean and laying shoulder to shoulder in Kara's bed facing up at the ceiling. Kara had started to head toward the couch after she opened the bathroom and saw Lena in her bed but Lena stopped her with a simple, "Would you kindly sleep in bed with me Kara?"

Kara had fallen asleep nearly instantly, Lena, on the other hand, let her mind wander. From fantasy to reality and back, Lena's mind coiled around the situation. Maybe there was more in her past that could help, maybe there was more in the future that would prove harmful. It took a long time for Lena to scold herself into focusing on deep, slow breathing in order to calm her mind long enough to fall asleep.

_The next morning_

Lena became aware of her consciousness slowly, the dream she was having floating gently out of her head as the sound of the city became more apparent. She begrudgingly rolled over onto her back and realized she was not simply laying sideways on a pillow, but on a human.

Well, not a human, a kryptonian. A kryptonian who made a nearly imperceptible sound to the human ear, a sound of acute sadness. With her proximity, however, Lena heard the noise and opened her eyes as she tilted her head up.

"Hey you're awake! I called Jess and let her know you were sick today and I called in too so we could both sleep in and talk and eat, please can we eat?" Kara was a ball of energy in the morning without any external stimulus. Without Lena to keep her on the bed, Kara jumped out of bed and practically glided to the kitchen.

Lena looked at her watch as she slowly rose and followed Kara into the kitchen, "Didn't you eat about…seven hours ago? Lena asked as she shook her head and tried to keep up with the bubbly woman bouncing around the kitchen.

"I have to eat every few hours, over ten thousand calories a day!" Kara shook the bread that was to become toast at Lena as she explained, "It takes a lot of energy to be the strongest woman on the planet you know." Kara bit the untoasted bread and frowned, it wasn't toast yet. She paused to heat vision the bread and happily took another bite. Kara zapped a couple more pieces and presented them to Lena, "Behold. Toast."

"Oh, I don't eat breakfast, just coffee will do." Lena waved off the carbs presented to her and nodded to the brewing machine behind Kara. This was exactly the wrong thing to say to someone who ate every two to three hours.

"You cannot skip breakfast!" Kara put her hands on her hips supergirl style, widened her stance and began to stand her ground.

"Yes. Break. Fast. A meal that breaks a fast is the most important meal of the day, I just don't break my fast during breakfast." Lena calmly explained to the upset alien. Their first argument was literally going to be about toast and Lena hadn't even had coffee yet. "Would you kindly pour me a cup of black coffee?" Lena used her power over Kara so easily, it could become a dangerous habit.

The black coffee sat in front of Lena untouched for a moment before Kara sniffled and broke the tension. "I'm sorry that was cruel I shouldn't use this over you at all. I cannot have an argument about toast without coffee first, please Kara," Lena gulped down three sips of hot coffee before continuing, "I see that sharing food may be a love language of yours, but I regularly fast, it is a totally normal human thing to do, I promise."

"So…I can't bring you donuts all the time?" Kara's voice was so dejected Lena wanted to invent a time machine just to go back three minutes.

"I eat between two and ten pm usually. You can bring me anything during that window." Lena drew an imaginary clock on Kara's table with her hands, filling in the two to ten with an invisible pen.

Lena went through four more cups of black coffee while Kara ate what looked like half of her fridge. "You're going to get over-caffeinated if you keep that up." Kara tried to tease Lena as she devoured her second full plate of food.

"You made it weak enough that six cups would barely stimulate me. And you used light roast. Flavored light roast." Lena looked down at the coffee in disgust. She hadn't planned on saying anything, but if Kara wanted to prod her, she would respond.

"Oh my god you're a goth hipster! A rich goth hipster!" Kara threw her fork up with a piece of sausage on it, getting grease on her glasses in the process. "I bet you only drink locally brewed craft beer and organic almond milk and you probably don't even know what aisle the potato chips are in at the co-op!" Kara continued to rant jokingly.

"Well, first of all, I am not goth I just am so pale any pigment looks darker against my skin." Lena used her businesswoman's voice and Kara gulped down her sausage nervously, "Second, I am rich which either makes me more or less of a hipster depending on the city I suppose…probably more so I concede that point to you. I don't drink beer or almond milk thirdly, and last, " Lena paused knowing the next thing would make her sound incredibly entitled, "I don't do my own grocery shopping so I've no clue what aisle anything is on. I do support the co-op however so I guess that makes me 2-2, fifty percent hipster." Lena leaned back and folded her arms to signify the end of her explanation.

"How expensive is your coffee machine miss rich hipster?" Kara continued to poke her plate as she began to finally feel full. Getting to know Lena more and being friendly with her was making her feel so much better about the situation at hand. They could get to the serious stuff later.

"About thirty I think." Lena shrugged her shoulders and finished off another cup of coffee.

"Thirty…thousand!?" Kara yelled, eyes wide.

"No." Lena laughed and couldn't stop for a full minute at Kara's expression, "Thirty whole dollars. United States currency. That stuff that's backed by faith and credit of the US treasury. I have about a billion or so if it lying around…" Lena flailed her hands around as she explained currency to Kara who continued to look shocked.

"You're not a hipster, you're a nerd!" Kara corrected herself as she stood to clean her plate. Lena merely nodded her head in agreement and handed her cup for Kara to refill.

_A few hours later_

"It's nearly two, let's eat!" Kara clapped her hands together in excitement. Lena still didn't feel hungry but she told the woman two to ten so she would probably have to fast longer on days without Kara feeding her just to compensate for the extra calories.

The women had spent the midmorning talking about serious and not serious things. It was only fair that since Lena shared a massive amount of private information that Kara do the same. Kara told her all about Krypton, the social dynamics, the currency, the mating system, everything Kara could remember. When it became too difficult Lena let Kara lean on her in the same way the roles had been reserved just yesterday.

They really have only known each other for weeks, but it felt like years. The bond had only taken place a day ago but Lena felt like Kara had belonged to her the moment she saw her. It's funny how quickly the mind can adjust to something it finds pleasurable.

Lena let Kara drag her to a hole in the wall just across the street from her apartment that smelt like stale smoke and looked like it should be set on fire. "They have the best sandwiches here," Kara explained as if going to a shady dive bar for a sandwich was a completely normal thing for her to do.

_An hour later_

Turns out, they really did make the best sandwich Lena had ever eaten.

As the women walked out of the bar Lena leaned into Kara and quietly asked, "Can we test this distance thing? I can go back to your place and you take the long way, circle the block or something and save the location on your phone so we can calculate the distance?"

Kara agreed and she slowly walked in the opposite direction as Lena until she felt the ache begin. Using her super hearing she tried to find Lena but the city was too noisy. She stopped and screenshot her location on her phone GPS and continued powering through until the pain began to go from dull to stinging, another screenshot and she ducked into an alley to fly home.

"So I got about this far," Kara began, holding her phone out as soon as she landed only to notice Lena standing in the kitchen with the back toward the window. "Hey, Lena….oh. Hi Alex!" Kara greeted her sister, oblivious to the tension in the area.

Kara moved toward her friend and sister but stopped when she realized they were at a stalemate, daggers in their eyes, and completely ignoring Kara. This wasn't going to end well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold, domestic supercorp. And a cliffhanger!


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long to get out. 5B really sucked out all of my desire for SG and I am an essential worker so I am still working full time during this pandemic.

_The Present_

Alex glared. Lena glared. Kara squinted. The grease on her glasses made Alex's face blurry in a comical fashion. Kara took off her lenses to clean them, oblivious to the growing tension in the room.

"Kara you need to come back to the DEO." Alex commanded without taking eyes off of Lena.

"Kara and I need to go to Lillian and get information about this parasite, the DEO surely has other agents at its disposal?" Lena rebutted on Kara's behalf.

Alex, clearly at her wits end, got into Lena's personal space and seethed, "Kara can speak for herself."

Lena, ever a Luthor responded in kind, "Oh and what are you doing right now? Not speaking for her?" Alex moved her hand to Lena's face but was stopped by a blighted Kara.

It happened nearly instantaneously. Alex in one second was about to assert her dominance and control over Lena with a physical threat and in the next second she was thrown through Kara's door and into the hallway.

"Oh god no I'm a monster! Alex are you okay?" Kara shook as she bolted to the hallway to recover her sister. Alex groaned as she sat up, alive and breathing. Kara hugged her and began a mantra of 'I'm sorry' while rocking her wounded sibling like a broken toy.

Lena stepped into the door way, arms crossed, and looked down at Alex, "We did warn you."

Kara resisted the urge to chastise Lena. It was true they did tell Alex everything, but that didn't mean Kara had free reign to hurt her loved ones.

"I'm ok Kara, you can let go." Alex said as she tried to shove Kara off of her. They stumbled up to stand and Alex huffed out in defeat. "We really should see Lillian then, I'd rather not get thrown into the sun for bumping into Lena."

Silence followed as no one moved toward the exit.

"Well… _nous marche_." Lena finally said as she gestured toward the exit. The sisters finally gathered their wits and followed her out of Kara's apartment building.

_A few hours later_

The woman sitting across from Lena at the prison was not Lillian Luthor. She was a cheap impostor, one that didn't even fool Alex and Alex had never met Lillian Luthor. This impostor had the wrong hair color, it was too blonde and the wrong style, it was up and Lillian would never, and the wrong eyes that were too large as they bore into the visitors in front of her. The three women tried to reason with the guards, thinking that Lillian got another inmate to go in return but they insisted that the woman in front of them was the real Lillian Luthor.

"Fine, mom," Lena said with sarcasm dripping, "what did you do to your face? Not playing nice in prison?" Lena referenced the rough patches of scar tissue that dripped down the woman's cheek onto her jaw, obviously not a feature the real Lillian would have.

"Well aren't you an ungrateful little bitch." The impostor didn't even attempt to find her accent, sounding more like a 1940s New Yorker than a graceful Luthor. The statement made Lena literally recoil in shock, at the voice and the language.

Kara was fed up and excused herself from the visit. While Alex and Lena were talking to the impostor, Kara decided to take a quick visit to Lillian's jail cell, a really quick visit. Kara super sped into the prison, tilting cameras as she went until she found an empty cell in protective custody. The contents of the room confirmed it was Lillian's, how she even got such grandiose furniture into a prison was beyond Kara at the moment, she had more important work to do, like figure out who that impostor was and locate the real Lillian Luthor.

Kara bent the bars of the prison door to let herself in and stumbled into a different universe.

Instead of the prison cell that was so plainly laid out before her, Kara found herself enveloped in a world under the sea. A world full of tall buildings, magnificent design, and white hot heat.

The last thing Kara saw before her vision gave out was a confused looking woman, pale with green eyes and dark hair, just like Lena.

_Back in National City_

"Supergirl, come in." Alex tried again for the hundredth time to contact Kara. Her and Lena had finished their talk with the fake Lillian Luthor, getting nothing out of the woman, nothing useful at least, but the woman did have some creative insults that Alex filed away for later.

Lena stretched her arms back in her chair at the DEO. The pair had been waiting for Kara to come back for hours and Lena knew it would be dangerous for Kara to be this far away from her for so long. Still, there was nothing for a human to do in this situation except wait.

"Ma'am we are getting a signal from the prison!" An agent said as they checked their monitor.

"Finally!" Alex dispatched a team and was ready to head back out when a loud crash and dust scattered the atmosphere.

"Kara!" Lena yelled and jumped from her chair arms open to reach the superhero in front of her. Kara didn't register her name being spoken however, her eyes were hollow, emotionless. Kara's body looked emaciated, lacking the plump muscular outline she regularly experienced. The supersuit was torn, the cape totally gone. Maybe this wasn't Kara at all…

Kara wordlessly stepped into Lena's arms and let herself be enveloped by the other woman. After several moments, Lena finally asked, "Where did you go?"

Kara didn't reply, but she hugged Lena tighter and began to cry. "I'm taking her home." Lena said to Alex as she maneuvered the superhero around the agents weeping up the dust. Lena walked them outside, the superhero clinging to her trying to keep her head near Lena's heart. Lena called her driver to meet them two blocks away and had an idea as they made their way to the pickup location. Lena took her hand and placed her wrist next to Kara's ear, letting the vibration of her heartbeat drum into the other woman's ears. Kara didn't audibly reply, but something flickered in her eyes and Lena knew she was on the right track. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this is so short but I wanted to give the very nice reviewers who left me comments something. I have an outline complete for this story so there will be more, please be patient and thanks for sticking around!


	6. Chapter Six

_The Next Morning_

Lena silently sipped her coffee with her left hand. The action felt odd like her brain understood the movements but wasn’t comfortable with them. Her right hand was in Kara’s who hadn’t let go in approximately fourteen hours. Kara was also having coffee but more like cream and sugar with a splash of coffee. No food was prepared as Kara refused to let go of Lena and couldn’t figure out how to make breakfast with one hand. They sat silent, sitting at the breakfast bar, waiting for the rising tension to finally break, or for Kara to miraculously recover. 

They hadn’t talked much, about the interlude, or about their bond, or about their connection, the new one that was growing in strength every hour. Kara tried to talk a few times but couldn’t get the words out right, the wrong words in the wrong order with the wrong position of the tongue and lips. Whatever happened to her, it happened completely as her gait was off, the way she swung her arm was different, although that could be her need to be close to Lena. The biggest concern Lena had however, was how hollow and sad her eyes looked. The taller woman looked like someone scooped out her insides and replaced them with boiled bacon, left to rot inside of her, letting the noxious gas of decay permeate her extremities instead of muscle. 

It broke Lena’s heart, but she had two people to keep beating for now, her and Kara. 

Lena informed Alex that Kara wasn’t eating and got the reply, “She lies about needing to eat so much, she gets all of her energy from the sun, she just likes the taste!” Fascinating, then, they moved on to discuss Lena’s plan, and with her being handicapped, or handikidnapped for the time being, Alex agreed to help. Lena wasn’t apt enough at texting with Alex to determine if the woman was still mad at her, but it didn’t really matter, they’d move past this. Winn would have a working prototype of her idea within 48 hours, and then maybe Lena could get back to work.

A few phone calls later and Lena got herself out of working for the next few days again. Jess had the authority to sign for anything important on Lena’s behalf and Lena scheduled a few cannot miss phone calls for now to get them out of the way. Business managed, Lena squeezed Kara’s hand. The other woman had not said anything in nearly an entire day, she produced a weak smile at the stimulus of Lena’s squeeze but hadn’t returned it, almost like she didn’t know how. “Would you kindly…” Lena trailed off, not wanting to abuse her control but desperately wanting some physical distance, even just for a few moments. 

Lena need not finish her sentence, Kara let go of her hand at the words and Lena reached over to gently touch Kara’s ears, a reminder for the woman to use them while Lena stepped away, then she moved her hand down to Kara’s chin and cupped it, put pressure on it to defy gravity and had the woman look at her. “I’ll be back soon, I am just going to take a call at the table.” Kara nodded in comprehension, her hollow eyes following Lena's movements as she prepared herself. 

_A Few Hours Later_

The heart is a truly independent organ. It takes requests from the brain and other chemicals in the blood supply, but it can beat on its own. Even if its owner is dying, bleeding out, each pump pushing more vital fluid out of the soon to be corpse. It beats regardless of how much the owner does not want it to; it beats if the brain is dead, if the lungs are drowned, if the metaphorical heart is beaten into submission. Heartbeats you’d think, given the nature of the heart, would be similar. But they weren’t, not at all. People had typical sinus rhythms, the peak and drop caricatured in media, but this rhythm was taken by each human and made their own, with their own pace and movement. 

Kara knew Lena’s heart rate was a steady 56 beats per minute while sleeping, 81bpm when lounging, and usually around 120bpm when walking. When Lena saw Kara crash through the DEO last night, her heartbeat was 182bpm, and although Kara had never heard Lena’s heart beat so fast, after months of silence, she could pinpoint the woman anywhere. The time hardened her neurons, not allowing her to learn any new facts or abilities. 

Kara moved her jaw around as Lena conducted her business at her kitchen table. This wasn’t how her life was supposed to be like. She was young, fit, and a superhero to boot yet here she was, mute, emaciated, and potentially suffering from Stockholm syndrome. It wasn’t like Lena kidnapped her, but Kara couldn’t figure another way why she’d be so suddenly enamored with the younger woman. Maybe it was the slug, maybe it was her Luthor genes, Kara only knew that during the months she was gone, she only developed stronger feelings, longing for the connection, to feel taken care of and loved.

Months it had been, at least it felt like months, or maybe a few weeks. Kara remembered the pain, the constant torture of being disconnected from Lena. It drove her to madness, a madness that was manipulated until she was rescued by a kind woman with green eyes and dark hair, just like Lena. That woman’s heartbeat calmed Kara down in its own way, and Kara took the bold step to acknowledging that she may just have a type. 

Kara stood up abruptly as Lena finished her phone call. She looked awkward as ever, standing there in the open space, arms loose at her sides, her clothes too big for her, her jaw moving around like she had something stuck in the back of her throat. Lena gave her a look of pity, and nothing could spur Kara into action more than being pitied. She hated the feeling, didn’t want it, didn’t need it. She’d recover from this, as soon as she figured out how to walk on her own again. 

“Come sit down.” Lena said as she pushed out the chair adjacent to her at the table. Kara stumbled over, her knees not fully extending as she made her way over. “Should we go back to the DEO?” Kara shook her head no and placed her hands open, palm up on the table, and looked down at them. “You want to feel my heartbeat some more?” Kara nodded yes. Instead of simply grasping her hand, Lena placed her bare wrist on top of Kara’s wrist, mixing their rhythms together. Kara made a noise of surprise and contentment, she was definitely a little in love.

_The Next Day_

Winn came through the next afternoon, 24 hours ahead of schedule. “Thank you Mr. Schott.” Lena said as she took the devices and ushered him away, “We’ll see you again at the DEO soon.” Closing the door, Lena downloaded the app she and Winn had worked on last night after Jess dropped off her laptop, and synced it with the bracelets; one for her and one for Kara.

Kara held out her hand, a little less limp than yesterday. She still wasn’t speaking but she had practiced walking until the muscles began to contract and relax properly. The sunlamp Alex dropped off also helped. A few hours under it and Kara’s form began to fill itself out again, looking less like a prisoner of war and more like a normal human. Lena placed the bracelet on Kara’s wrist, and put her own on after, then took Kara’s phone and downloaded the app as well. It was simple, Lena’s device sent a signal through her phone to Kara’s phone which then sent the heartbeat to Kara’s bracelet. 

“Do you want to turn the continuous heart beat on?” Lena asked, and Kara looked at her phone to see what she was talking about. “If either one of us loses a signal the heartbeat can’t cross, in that case you can default the sensation to a programmed heart beat. It may be enough to trick whatever sort of affliction is controlling you, and if you have to fly to Serbia for some reason and lose signal, you won’t lose your mind.” Lena tried to joke.

Kara physically cringed at the idea of Serbia. The white, grey, and more white landscape. The cold so cold it felt hot. She’d been there once before, and hopefully would never have to go back. Kara nodded and tried to get out, “Yes.” Surprisingly, the word came out well enough, her jaw muscles were returning to their former glory. Both women smiled at each other, Kara could feel Lena’s heart beat without having to touch her, it was beating at a steady 83bpm.

_Later, at the DEO_

Kara was being poked and prodded by Alex. She let Lena return to her regularly scheduled life as she made her way over to see the gang and assess any long term damage. Alex picked up the arm that the bracelet dangled off of, looking at the offending device, knowing full well what it did. “So, you need to feel Lena’s heart beat or you’ll turn into super she-hulk, and this is the fix?”

“Don’t kink shame me.” Kara rebutted, her voice coming back rapidly under the sun lamps. She looked almost returned to her former glory, the shell shocked look in her eyes being the last remnant of her time on the other side. That’s what she called it to Alex, the other side. Kara had no clue how portals worked or how one could look so seamless and how a city could live under the sea, if it was out of choice or necessity. They were trying to figure out if she had gone to the future, another dimension, the past, somewhere else in their own universe, anything was game.

Alex theorized the kind woman was Lena, in the future, her heartbeat changed by time and war, and that the undersea city was the new home of the Luthors after being built in secret before the start of the next, and last, world war. “Geeze, what movie did you watch last?” Kara raised her eyebrows at Alex’s very in depth observations. 

“The 5th Element, you know I watch it every 4th Friday.” Alex shrugged easily and poked Kara with a random sensor again. She brought the probe closer to her to examine the results. Kara raised her chin in curiosity, wondering if she was okay. “Oh this is a dummy probe, you broke the sensor in it last time. I was just checking to make sure it was still broken.” Alex winked at Kara and got a head start running toward the command center. 

“Hey!” Kara said as she jumped off of the table she was sitting on and chased Alex at human speed. Just as she reached the core of the DEO Kara felt the urge inside of her, not to kill or destroy or find Lena, the urge to vomit. Kara knew in the back of her mind it was coming, Lena’s tragic backstory dictated her future, she would begin to produce gross phlegm, and it was happening now.

Kara managed to catch some of it in her hands before looking up at Alex, begging her with her eyes to help. Kara heaved up nearly a litre of snotty mucus from her lungs before Alex could get her back to the med bay. “That really is the worst new superpower ever, comic rant couldn’t have even predicted it!” Alex tried to joke as she ran her hand up and down Kara’s shivering back, trying to sooth her sister. 

“I am going t-” Kara coughed up some more phlegm, wondering if she’d ever stop. “Kill Lillian.” She finished and began to breath heavily. Alex got some x-rays of her lungs and took some samples to experiment with. She convinced Kara to let her try to get a tissue biopsy and the memory of feeling a probe down her lungs and scrapping the surface would haunt her forever.

_The Next Day, LCorp CEO’s Office_

It had been a nice 24 hours without Kara. Not that Lena didn’t like the girl, she did, but she had an empire to run and wanted her own shower and bed. She adjusted the bracelet on her wrist, the charging cable from the wall charger dangled awkwardly, a tripping hazard at least, accidental hanging at worst. Lena had survived other murder attempts however, she wouldn’t let a simple cord trick her.

Kara zipped into the room from the balcony and Lena stood quickly and tried to walk to the other woman, and immediately felt the tug of the cord and tripped and fell...into Kara’s waiting arms. Being around a superhero so often came in handy. “Falling for me already?” Kara smiled at Lena, up-righting the woman and brushing off the imaginary dirt from her shoulders.

Lena’s eyes grew wide at the sound of Kara’s voice, “You got better!” Lena pulled Kara into a hug, Kara reciprocating immediately. They pulled apart after a moment and moved to the couch. “Do you want to join me for lunch, we can talk about what happened?” Lena sat down on the couch first, curling her legs into herself and pulling out her phone to order a pizza for them. 

“No pineapple please.” Kara said as she also sat down and leaned back into the cushions. Being around Lena still brought her immense relief from a pressure she didn’t always realize was present. The bracelets helped a lot but it wasn’t exactly the same. The bracelet clocked Lena’s heart rate at 72bpm, but in person Lena’s heart raced at 101bpm. It had spiked when Kara surprised her and was making its way down. It would take another minute for Kara to feel the 101 race against her wrist and by that time Lena had dropped back to 81bpm. 

They caught up on the past 24 hours while waiting for the pizza. Kara regretfully informed Lena that the new superpower had shown up, Winn dubbed it ‘SuperSnott.” It was gross and made her feel sick and she was making sure Alex was destroying all of it in the bio-hazard waste incinerator at the DEO that processed all alien materials. Lena was incredibly apologetic but Kara waved her off, it wasn’t really her fault after all, it was Lillian, who they needed to find as soon as possible.

Jess interrupted their chat, opening the door with the presumably pizzas, but no boxes were in her hand. “Miss Luthor?” Lena looked confused and stood, walking to the door. 

Jess opened it a little wider and revealed a woman who could be Lena’s long lost sister. Kara gasped and stood as well, rushing over to the unnamed woman and enveloping her into a hug.

Jess shut the door behind her, saying she would call the pizza place about the late delivery and the three girls were left alone. “This is the woman who helped me when I was on the other side!” Kara said happily as she smiled at the woman, looking back and forth between her and Lena. 

“I mean, thank you, for saving my, my friend.” Lena was emotional, conflicted, happy, confused, too many emotions for a Luthor to have all at once. “God we look so similar, that’s weird isn’t it, you aren’t me from the future are you?” Lena teased at Alex’s theory that Kara had just summarized. 

The woman grimaced, a small, sad smile curling onto her face, “If only…” she reached out to grasp Lena’s hands, and Lena let her, her heart rate racing to 143bpm. The woman held Lena’s hands in hers as she looked right at her, commanding all of Lena’s attention, “My name is Elizabeth Booker and I am your mother. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanna say, eff 2020. This is poorly edited, I am so tired. Thanks for reading.

_The Present_

Mother. 

Not a word Lena Luthor would ever recall with fondness, not for Lillian at least. She yearned for her birth mother constantly after her death but eventually moved past it...only to discover she has yet another mother, living and now sitting in front of her and Kara eagerly enjoying the pizza that was just delivered. 

“God this is good, what is it called again? Pizzah?” Elizabeth chomped down on the crust of her third slice. A woman who had never had pizza, never known her daughter, never planned to get involved until Kara barreled into her sanctuary in Rapture.

“Pizza! It’s my favorite!” Kara said with delight as she finished her first pie. For someone who did not technically need the calories to survive, she sure could plow through her meals. With Elizabeth present, something in Kara changed slightly, she felt lighter, like the air was a little thinner, a little cooler, and the sun was a little brighter. The older woman tried so hard to take care of her during her time on the other side and Kara couldn’t help but appreciate it. To find out the woman was related to Lena only made it more clear in Kara’s mind that things would get better. 

Lena was far more modest with her approach to her lunch, choosing to use cutlery that Kara endlessly teased her for. Some people just don’t like to get their hands dirty, was Lena’s response to Kara’s earlier quips. Now the three women settled into a silence filled with anticipation. So many questions to ask and so many answers to unravel, but for now, they enjoyed the last of their meal together.

“So…” Lena trailed off, “is it time for the big exposition dump?” Elizabeth nodded silently, looking toward Kara who cast her eyes down at the last piece of pizza. 

Elizabeth inhaled a big breath of air before releasing it slowly, “So, what do you know about the multiverse?”

_Somewhere else, some when else_

This was her burden to bear, after giving up Lena decades ago, Elizabeth committed herself to saving as many little sisters as she could in as many universes as she could. Her home base was set up in Rapture 42, the one where everyone died of a neurotoxin released into the air before Fontaine could have his way. No crazies, no splicers, no plasmids, just dead and decaying bodies, everywhere. It took months of disgusting work but Elizabeth managed to clean up, restore power, and create a nearly functional alt-Rapture, a new home for the little sisters she would one day rescue, deprogram and rehome. 

It had been going well for years, things getting hairy sometimes but overall with her power to create portals, Elizabeth made quick work of all of the rescue missions. It wasn’t until a man interrupted her sanctuary one day with a plan of his own did she no longer feel safe. He tried to woo Elizabeth, but she wasn’t swayed. He tried to woo the big sisters, but they weren’t convinced, then he went for the little sisters and Elizabeth was once again thrust into war. 

Suddenly the playing field was even, Elizabeth wasn’t the only one who could create portals, wasn’t the only one who wanted to mess with the multiverse. Suddenly, Frank Fontaine was back, messing with technology that could only be powered by Elizabeth’s innate abilities, or the Lutece’s technology. Suddenly he stopped being Frank Fontaine and decided to go by a different name, with a different purpose; Lionel Luthor was his new name, and capitalism was his new game. 

_The Present_

“Wait wait wait. My dad is a maniac universe hopper who wants to sell ADAM from across the multiverse to the highest bidder?” Lena shook her head, tiling it, trying to understand what Elizabeth was explaining to them. “And he’s alive!?” Lena threw her arms up in disbelief.

Elizabeth grimaced, “When I wouldn’t partner with him or give him any of my refractory little sisters he started a war. He’s hidden in a universe where he is heavily protected by Rapture's sentry bots and big daddy abominations. His wife Lillian brokers deals for him across the multiverse, she is a terrible, evil woman.” 

Lena rolled her eyes at Elizabeth's last statement, “I could have told you that. But why now,” Lena pleaded for understanding, “Why are you revealing yourself to us now, why if you knew they were so terrible did you…” Lena couldn’t finish her question. Why did Elizabeth abandon her own flesh and blood to rescue strangers, why leave her with the Luthors and condemn her to this lonely life?

Elizabeth turned toward Kara who had been respectfully silent for the conversation, “I honestly didn’t know they had you, what you had gone through or who Lillian was until Kara barreled into Lillian and helped me sort out the final pieces of the puzzle…”

_Another Time, Another Place_

“Oof” Kara groaned as she tried to sort her whereabouts. The last thing she remembered was seeing the woman who looked like Lena before passing out. Kara looked around, she was on a twin bed with gaudy sheets, the room had no windows to the outside, pastel floral wallpaper, and a sort of eerie feel to it, like something sinister happened here. Kara tried to stand but found her strength had diminished. 

The door opened to reveal a teenage girl, pale, lanky, dark brown hair, big eyes, wearing a style of clothing not commonly seen on Earth in the twenty first century. “Hi, Mama said you’d be up soon, she wanted you to eat this.” The girl handed Kara a decent portion of soup, it didn’t look half bad but Kara felt soup was a mortal sin, if it had that much liquid, it was for fish, not humanoid beings. Kara still said thanks and took the offering from the girl. “She said if you’re feeling better, to meet her at the Center Square Bistro, you’ll see it when you get out the apartments.” The girl nodded awkwardly at Kara and left the room, gently shutting the door. 

Kara walked out of the room and wandered aimlessly around her new surroundings. She was completely encased by walls, hideously decorated, no windows in sight, no sunlight, no way back to her universe. After a lackadaisical approach toward the Center Square Bistro, Kara found herself at the door of the establishment, although she was more curious about exploring her new surroundings, they seemed eerie and spectacular all at once.

“God it took you forever Supergirl. Get this vile woman to untie me so I can rot in prison, it would be better than being here.” Kara’s eyes widened as she entered the Bistro and saw none other than Lillian Luthor herself tied up to a chair in the middle of the room. There were no patrons, this was not a show, something was seriously off about this place. 

Kara looked around but saw no one else, yet. “Lillian, what happened, how did we get here? I entered that portal in your cell and wound up here somehow.” Kara asked as though Lillian would freely offer up that information. The Luthor scoffed and rolled her eyes in response. It was worth a try. Kara putzed around the room, fiddling with various objects as she waited for this ‘mama’ person to show up. Maybe the more evil woman had kidnapped the nice looking woman who saved her, how was Kara to help with her powers dwindling without sunlight. So many thoughts raced through Kara’s mind. 

“Oh good you’re finally awake!” A chipper voice appeared behind Kara. Kara spun around only to find not an evil, vile woman, but the woman she saw just before she passed out.

_The Present_

Lena laughed hard, “You had my mother tied up like some gangster movie? Oh what I wouldn’t give to see that.” Jess had come in to clean up the remains of their lunch, Kara had polished off two more pizzas while she recounted the rest of her time in Rapture.

“Lillian spilled the beans very quickly, she probably assumed I’d never get back home,” Kara started, “there’s a lot of shady shit happening that we have barely even begun to scratch the surface of, me being a host for a kinky slug is barely the tip of the iceberg.” 

Elizabeth blinked rapidly at Kara, trying to comprehend the use of English. She squinted toward Lena, then back at Kara, “Beans? Slug? Iceberg?” Lena and Kara looked at each other for a moment before Lena sighed and began to explain their backstory...

_Later, Kara’s Apartment_

Elizabeth waltzed around the space taking in every picture, book, knickknack, and other object. Their world was so, so different despite the similarities. She had spent far too long under the waves on her self-imposed mission, she forgot that there was a whole world topside, one worth living for. 

Lena sat at Kara’s table with a tea, watching her real mother discover new details about their world. She couldn’t help but feel a little longing, wishing the older woman would stay, but she knew she couldn’t, there was so much more at play here than even Lena could currently comprehend. Kara had decided they needed a change of venue and by that she meant she wanted the ice cream in her freezer. Now at the table with Lena, Kara dug into the tub of ice cream with a fork like a maniac. 

Lena rolled her eyes, “Kara would you kindly use a spoon to eat your ice cream like a civilized human being.” She didn’t mean for the command to slip out, but out it was and Kara grunted before walking over to the kitchen to get a spoon. 

“It’s solid food, I could use a fork!” Kara rebutted as she dug into the ice cream with a spoon now. She huffed and puffed but wasn’t really angry, not with ice cream in her system. Lena’s heartbeat picked up when Kara glared at her, but Kara couldn’t tell why, in response Kara held out her hand for Lena, palm up on the table, to which Lena instinctively placed her hand palm down on top of, yet the act only made Lena’s heart race faster. Kara made a mental note to experiment more with this later. 

Elizabeth had been silently watching the exchange, they had explained the slug to her but to see it in action was something different. Unfortunately for the women, Elizabeth did have information about the Lutece siblings, and it wasn’t good. “They exist outside of time and space as we know it. They’ll only come to those who need them, and only when they want them. Bizarre creatures they are, once human, now unstuck from time itself…” Elizabeth trailed off as she explained her encounters with the siblings. 

It was time for Elizabeth to go back to her world, they had already discussed this. With Lillian still in her care she could not abandon her post for too long. She had told the girls what information she could about ADAM, the slug, the twins, and Lionel, but none of it was immediately useful to Kara’s Schnott Situation. Elizabeth stood to hug the pair goodbye and as she gave her daughter, her real daughter, her first goodbye hug, she whispered something Kara didn’t catch in the moment, and slipped a small device into Lena’s pocket. 

Kara went to give Elizabeth a hug goodbye but before she could complete the task her eyes widened and she super sped away into the bathroom, leaving mother and daughter to hear her hurling up ADAM. “Don’t let anyone steal that junk Lena, it could topple universes. If Lionel comes here, call Songbird.” Elizabeth gravely warned and patted the device she put in Lena’s pocket before opening a tear and departing. 

Moments later Kara stumbled back into her living room only to find Elizabeth gone and Lena teary eyed. “Aw did I miss her, this slug really sucks.” She went to comfort Lena, sitting on the couch next to her, “I know we just got thrust into a really weird, convoluted side story but can we maybe just...watch a movie tonight?” Kara asked gently as she put her arm over Lena and brought her closer. Lena silently nodded her head. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to read more, leave a comment and let me know. I'm not sure that this idea will gain much traction but I had to put it out here and try.


End file.
